Absolute value. Always safe.

Add two decimals.

When one operand is zero the result is just the other operand — we short-circuit without going through align. Without the short-circuit, align would try to scale the smaller-exponent operand up to the larger’s exponent (e.g. 1 × 10^20 for new(1, 20) + zero()), which can exceed max_safe_coefficient and surface a spurious PrecisionExceeded despite the mathematical result fitting trivially. When both operands are zero we still return zero, but with the smaller of the two exponents so that add(a, b) == add(b, a) holds at the level of structural equality (the same invariant align provided before).

The signed coefficient component.

Total ordering. Two values with the same numeric value compare as equal even when their exponents differ.

Divide a by b, returning a result rounded to digits decimal places using mode.

Returns DivisionByZero when b is zero, or PrecisionExceeded when the intermediate representation would exceed ±9_007_199_254_740_991 (the JavaScript-safe integer ceiling). See max_safe_digits for the practical upper bound on digits: requests above that value will exceed the precision window even when both operands are unit-magnitude, and larger operands shrink the headroom further. For the per-call boundary the rule of thumb is `digits ≤ floor(log10(max_safe_coefficient / abs(a.coefficient)))

• (b.exponent − a.exponent). Callers needing more precision should reach for a dedicated arbitrary-precision library (Python decimalwithprec=50+`, etc.).

Equality test by numeric value, not by representation. equal(new(coefficient: 100, exponent: -2), one()) is True.

The exponent component (base 10).

Render a Decimal with custom thousands and decimal separators.

format(d, thousands: ",", decimal_separator: ".")  // "1,234.56"
format(d, thousands: ".", decimal_separator: ",")  // "1.234,56" (German)
format(d, thousands: "",  decimal_separator: ".")  // "1234.56"

Equivalent to to_string when thousands is empty and decimal_separator is ".".

Like format, but validates the separator arguments against the locale-formatter contract and returns the failure as a Result instead of producing a garbled rendering. The checks catch the three configuration mistakes that format would otherwise swallow:

• thousands or decimal_separator with more than one grapheme (the function is a single-character separator formatter; longer inputs almost always indicate a config-pipeline bug)
• identical thousands and decimal_separator (the output would render the same character at every separator position and be un-parseable round-trip)
• empty decimal_separator (the output would lose the integer / fractional split entirely)

thousands empty is still accepted and yields “no grouping” — the standard contract for to_string. Use this entry point when the separator arguments come from configuration, locale data, or any other dynamic source where surfacing the failure as a value matters; keep using format when the arguments are call-site literals you control.

Build a Decimal from a Float.

The conversion goes through float.to_string |> from_string, which means the resulting Decimal matches Gleam’s textual rendering of the float. That rendering is the same one gleam_stdlib uses for string.inspect(value) and is generally the “shortest IEEE-754 round-trip” form on both targets — so inputs like 0.5 and 3.14 survive intact, while pathological floats (0.1 +. 0.2 → 0.30000000000000004) carry their full double expansion into the resulting Decimal.

Returns the same ParseError variants from_string does so a runtime float that for any reason cannot be parsed (NaN / Infinity surface as non-numeric strings on Erlang) propagates as Error(_) rather than panicking.

Use this when the input genuinely is a Float (exchange-rate APIs, telemetry); prefer from_string or try_new when the caller already holds a textual or coefficient-and-exponent representation, since those skip the float round-trip and stay target-portable.

Build a Decimal from an integer.

Panics if |n| > 9_007_199_254_740_991 (such a coefficient cannot round-trip through to_string and from_string). Use try_from_int when the input is supplied by a caller and might exceed the safe range — that variant returns a Result instead of panicking.

Parse a decimal from a string. Accepts an optional leading + or -, decimal digits, and at most one . separator. Scientific notation (1e10, 1.5E+2, 1e-10) is also accepted: the mantissa is parsed by the same rules and the trailing [eE][+-]?digits shifts the resulting Decimal’s exponent. This matches dataprep/parse.float’s convention so values produced by Float → String round-trips on either target flow into decimal without an intermediate string.replace step.

from_string("3.14")    // Ok(Decimal with coefficient=314, exponent=-2)
from_string("-0.5")    // Ok(Decimal with coefficient=-5, exponent=-1)
from_string("1e10")    // Ok(Decimal with coefficient=1, exponent=10)
from_string("1.5e+2")  // Ok(Decimal with coefficient=15, exponent=1)
from_string("1e-10")   // Ok(Decimal with coefficient=1, exponent=-10)
from_string("")        // Error(EmptyInput)
from_string("1.2.3")   // Error(MultipleDecimalPoints)

Test for a strictly negative decimal.

Test for a strictly positive decimal.

Test for the zero decimal.

Upper bound on digits arguments to divide (and the other operations that scale by 10^digits) when both operands are unit-magnitude. max_safe_coefficient is ≈ 9 × 10^15, so 10^16 > max_safe_coefficient and division to 16 fractional digits already exceeds the safe range even for 1/1. Larger operands shrink the practical headroom further; treat max_safe_digits as the best case ceiling, not a guarantee. For any specific division, the safe digits value is bounded by floor(log10(max_safe_coefficient / abs(a.coefficient))) plus b.exponent − a.exponent. Callers that need more precision should reach for a dedicated arbitrary-precision library (e.g. Python decimal with prec=50+).

Multiply two decimals.

Negate the value. Always safe (the coefficient sign flips but magnitude does not change).

Build a Decimal directly from a coefficient and exponent.

new(coefficient: 1234, exponent: -2) represents 12.34.

Panics if the implied rendered value exceeds the safe range (|coefficient| > 9_007_199_254_740_991, or — for non-negative exponent — |coefficient| × 10^exponent > 9_007_199_254_740_991). Use try_new when the inputs are supplied by a caller and might exceed the safe range — that variant returns a Result instead of panicking.

The decimal value 1.

Force the decimal to a specific exponent. When the new exponent is finer (smaller), the coefficient grows by zero-padding (may overflow). When the new exponent is coarser (larger), digits are dropped using mode.

Round to digits decimal places, trim only. When the input is already at equal or coarser precision than -digits (e.g. Decimal(coefficient: 2000, exponent: 0) against digits: 2), the original Decimal is returned unchanged — round never pads with zeros, so to_string(round(from_int(2000), 2, _)) is "2000", not "2000.00".

Use rescale when the result must always have exponent -digits (i.e. the rendered form must always have exactly digits decimal places, including trailing zeros) — rescale returns Result because the padding direction can overflow ±9_007_199_254_740_991.

Subtract b from a.

Convert to a plain integer.

Succeeds only when d is exactly integer-valued — no fractional part and the resulting integer fits within ±max_safe_coefficient. Both a non-zero fractional remainder and a coefficient overflow produce PrecisionExceeded. Use to_int_truncated when the fractional part should be dropped toward zero, or to_int_rounded when it should be rounded using a specific rounding.Mode.

to_int(from_int(7))                 // Ok(7)
let assert Ok(d) = from_string("12.34")
to_int(d)                           // Error(PrecisionExceeded)
let assert Ok(d) = from_string("12.00")
to_int(d)                           // Ok(12)

Round d to an integer using mode and return that integer.

mode is applied as if rounding to zero decimal places — so to_int_rounded(d, mode: rounding.HalfEven) is the natural fit for the “I rounded to N decimals, now give me the integer” workflow. Returns PrecisionExceeded only when the rounded integer cannot fit within ±max_safe_coefficient.

Truncate d toward zero (rounding.Down) and return the integer.

Drops the fractional part regardless of its size, so -1.9 becomes -1 and 1.9 becomes 1. Use to_int_rounded when a different rounding mode is needed. Returns PrecisionExceeded only when the truncated integer cannot fit within ±max_safe_coefficient (a fractional part on its own never causes a failure here, unlike to_int).

Render a Decimal as a plain string. Preserves the encoded exponent (new(coefficient: 100, exponent: -2) renders as "1.00", not "1").

Truncate to digits decimal places (rounding toward zero), trim only. Like round, the input is returned unchanged when it is already at equal or coarser precision than -digits.

Build a Decimal from an integer, returning a Result.

Returns Error(CoefficientTooLarge) when |n| > 9_007_199_254_740_991, which is the threshold above which the resulting Decimal cannot round-trip through to_string and from_string.

Build a Decimal from a coefficient and exponent, returning a Result.

Returns Error(CoefficientTooLarge) when the rendered value would overflow the safe range — either because |coefficient| > 9_007_199_254_740_991, or because a positive exponent would push the rendered integer (|coefficient| × 10^exponent) past that bound. Such a value cannot round-trip through to_string and from_string.

The decimal value 0.